After being bum-rushed out of Washington last week, GM's grand poobah conducted an interview with The Detroit Free Press.

About the criticism that it looked bad to fly to Washington D.C. aboard a private jet to plead poverty, he said: "This is fairly standard practice in a lot of fields and built around the fact that we do try to cover a lot of bases. ... So I have to say it got a little more attention than I would have thought it would have."

And about a suggestion that he cut his salary from $2.2 million a year to $1 million, he said: "I really hadn't thought through that yet. I do have a son in college I have to pay for somehow."

Lord, I hope he was joking. If not, what's the message there? That he can't possibly send his kid to college on a paltry mil per year?

Oh, that'll play well in Congress. With the American public, as well.

Same goes for the jet comment.

Look, Rick - may I call you Rick? - it doesn't matter if using a corporate jet is standard big business practice. It also doesn't matter if the criticism of its use was a cheap shot or not.

What matters is that in the real world, people don't use private jets. In the real world, when we fly we pay a lot of money to sit in a narrow seat with no leg room next to a fat guy who smells bad and who tries to bogart our pack of eight salted peanuts.

To real worlders, people who use private jets are --- follow the logic here -- rich. And if you're rich you probably don't need a loan, right?

From high atop the GM mound, I know your jet use sounds ridiculous, Rick. In the scope of GM's vastness, a corporate jet is a piddly expense. So is your salary. So, naturally, your question is probably, "What does any of that have to do with the survival of an industry?"

My answer: everything.

Image matters. It matters just as much, in this case, as substance. Congress shooed you away last week in part because they claimed you didn't have a detailed plan as to how you would spend the money.

But it also shooed you away, I think, because it was clear people don't like the auto industry very much. It's a surprise to me, too, but there you go. The polls show half of America doesn't seem to care if Detroit lives or dies.

And if people don't seem to care, Congress, which is paying close attention to people right now for a change, isn't going to be inclined to shower you with blank checks, now are they?

You want my advice, Rick?

When it comes time to go before Congress again, do these four things:

1) Have a clear, simple plan with you. (I'd keep it to 10 words or less, written in large, bold print. This is Congress, after all.)

2) Drive to Washington to deliver that plan in a hybrid.

3) When you appear before the TV cameras, wear a barrel, not an expensive suit.

4) For the love of Pete, please don't mention your son's college expenses.